What has been going on with Birdo lately? She made her grand first appearance in the masterpiece known as Super Mario Bros. 2 (not to be confused with the hard version of SMB1 that is also called Super Mario Bros. 2), and while she didn't show up very often for a while, Birdo became a game star after entering Mario Tennis, Mario Kart, Mario Party, and even more Mario stuff! She was like known all over the world during the mid-2000s!

However though, in recent times, Birdo rarely makes any appearance again. She's not even in Mario Kart 8 from what I've seen! What happened? Have people lost their love to Birdo? Less and less people seem to be aware of how groundbreaking Birdo was back in her days, but luckily, there seems to be one person that is trying to revitalize her fame once again: Vitiman (known as Vimimin at the time this game was made)! By sending Birdo into an old Macintosh computer and taking inspiration from the famous Yoshi vs. Windows game, Birdo vs. Macintosh is sure to remind everyone what it's like to have Birdo around again!

Huh, what's that? This is only a one level demo? And Vitiman said this game would released at 2017, when it... well... didn't happen? I hope he's still planning to finish it one day, though, because not only does Birdo deserve to have more recognition again, Birdo vs. Macintosh is one of the two games that inspired me to make a Commander Keen mod that takes place inside a computer! (Who's Commander Keen, you say? I guess we have another once-famous game star that deserves to be well-known again...)

-The level is rather linear-The scrollbar platform can be unfair-A typo

Impressions

Gameplay8 / 10

It wouldn't feel like Yoshi vs. Windows and Wario vs. Windows if you didn't have to "destroy all enemy gracefully" in order to reach the exit, wouldn't it? Thankfully, Birdo vs. Macintosh has that gameplay mechanic implemented, and it even makes it more interesting by having more variety in the enemies! The whole "all of the enemies just move back and forth and are more like moving targets" stuff is no more, some enemies actually act like they want to defeat you! They're still rather easy and Birdo has a lot of health, but since this is only the first level, and assuming that later enemies will get more complex and difficult, I can forgive that.

Birdo plays rather well in this game; she can run, jump, and shoot eggs at enemies. I'd say she even plays like Mega Man, although Birdo has the distinction of being able to fire eggs diagonally (you can't if you are in the air, though, which can be annoying). The one level in this demo is very linear and all the enemies are in your path to the exit, but again, it's the first one, so it's alright if the next levels will be more interesting. It has a reasonable length and just enough variety; there's even a secret area that you'll find if you know where to look!

I think it'd be more interesting if there is least one time in each level where you have to explore in order to find and defeat the enemies. There are many times in Yoshi vs. Windows and its Wario sequel where you need to go off the beaten path, even if in such cases, you usually just need to go to another area. The gameplay has a lot of potential here, and if it's done right, it can be a really great game!

One final thing to mention: The scrollbar is awesome and the fact that you don't actually ride it but instead walk with it is rather charming, but if that's how they're gonna work, then I'd rather introduce them in a place that has no deadly hazard below. I was surprised when I tried to use it for the first time and ended up having to do the whole level all over again!

Graphics9 / 10

Birdo vs. Macintosh's graphics clearly show care and effort. Like Wario vs. Windows and its Yoshi prequel, there is some clashing, but this time it's not as noticeable. In fact, the graphics go well together overall! There are many cool details here, like the Macintosh window top you get to see during gameplay and how the eggs crack when they hit a wall. I thought it looked cool when the enemies are disintegrating after being defeated. Some screens have really trippy special effects that add to the charm of this game.

The moving letters are cute in the title screen, but they're annoying when you have to read them for a bit, like in the instructions screen. One thing that always struck me as odd is the icon used with a number to represent how many enemies are left. Seriously, what is that? Is it a corruption of the MacOS icon?

Sound9 / 10

This game uses chiptune audio, which, I think fits with the computer theme. Most of the songs are original compositions, which is nice to see (hear?) in fangames. The level's song fits the game, although it may get a bit repetitive if you listen to it for very long. The sound effects are always nice, and I have no complaints about them!

Replay3 / 10

It's only one level long, so once you finish, there isn't much left to do with this. I did say that there is a secret area you can try to find, just don't expect it to be very special. It's very simple at the moment, but I think the "defeat all enemies to reach the exit" mechanic can lead to some very interesting level design if used right. We'll have to see, though, if Vitiman is still working on this game.

Final Words

I hope Birdo vs. Macintosh is still being worked on, because this has potential to be a great game!